So anyone else stopped reading the recruiting threads?

[NowInStorrs]

I've been looking at them. Maybe that's where I went wrong.

 

[CL82]

I've been looking at them. Maybe that's where I went wrong.

You are too much of newbie to swear off them just yet. You need a little emotional scarring to toughen you up.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Losing Mathis pushed me over the top on this. I'll wait for the commitments.

I stopped YEARS ago. I was HUGE on recruiting from 91-06ish. In the following years i cut back big time on following and over the last 4 or 5 years i pretty much stopped following. Only recruit info i get is here and i tend to keep that to reading threads about guys who committed.

 

[champs99and04]

I just don't understand the mega-threads. Some degree of separation in any conversation is inevitable, so I don't think it's reasonable to confine every reply to strictly the recruitment.

But the fact that seemingly every thread devolves into a regurgitation of the same, stale arguments has made the board unreadable at times. We get that people have their opinions on Ollie and the program. Why they need to post those thoughts in every thread is beyond me and there are some folks on this board who are just downright obnoxious.

This is probably all my fault for being here in August.

 

[TitleTown]

I'm just so disappointed with everything UConn has done over the last couple of years. Losing players left and right, losing coaches, unable to hire seemingly the right people, unable to recruit anybody who seems to be any good, it's an incredibly frustrating time.

I'm not sure how we went from our new head coach winning a national championship to where we are now, but it doesn't seem like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

I agree. The UConn basketball program as I knew it for most of my life is now over and it is extremely frustrating. The really sad thing is that there are no easy fixes to turn things around. We are stuck with Ollie's contract, play in a mid major conference, can't recruit, and now due to mass transfers have that label associated with us.

 

[UC313]

Recruiting threads .... i just cant quit you.

 

[gtcam]

I agree. The UConn basketball program as I knew it for most of my life is now over and it is extremely frustrating. The really sad thing is that there are no easy fixes to turn things around. We are stuck with Ollie's contract, play in a mid major conference, can't recruit, and now due to mass transfers have that label associated with us.

Not sure how long "most of my life" really is
I've been following UConn MBB since 1964 and have seen both the craters as well as the mountain top.
If anyone doesn't think the abolishment of the OBE and the disadvantages UConn faces due to being on the outside of the P5 has had a huge effect is kidding themselves. Recruiting has been hurt by this and attracting the top of the class into the conference is a HUGE road block. Saying "can't recruit" is simplistic - yes they are stumbling with the big fish but who outside the P5 isn't?
I personally don't feel UConn is "stuck" with KO's contract.
Going from the Yankee Conference to the Big East was as unexpected as getting the cold shoulder when Pitt, Cuse and the others screwed the OBE.
You have to live with these peak and valleys.
It appears that you and over 50% of posters here are young enough to have only experienced the OBE days and I can appreciate that point of view, however, being as old as I am and being closely tied to UConn athletics, especially MBB and soccer, I can be, in my mind, a bit more tolerant at this point.
BTW, this AAC is hurting recruitment within soccer as well.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I love basketball. I coach youth basketball and I still play regularly (albeit at a much slower and more gravity restricted level than in the past), and closely follow both the NBA and college basketball. I have been a UConn fan since I received my acceptance to the school, and used to love talking about the program for hours with anyone that would listen.

I have nothing to say about the situation UConn is in now. It isn't so much anger as acceptance. Other than repeating the same complaints that others have made, I have nothing to add. There is no insight or observation left to make. Using a chess metaphor, UConn has not so much lost its queen and both rooks, as the pieces and board have been put away. If we are not consistently making he final 5 cut for borderline top 100 players that we want, then the game is over.

Football recruiting happens in the film room and basketball recruiting happens in the living room. Basketball is a much easier sport to evaluate talent than football because there are only 5 players on the court and everyone plays against everyone. This means there are far fewer recruiting surprises in hoops than football. This is true from top tier college all the way to 5th grade travel basketball. This puts a premium on making the sale, and we aren't making any of them.

 

[djct1999]

I love basketball. I coach youth basketball and I still play regularly (albeit at a much slower and more gravity restricted level than in the past), and closely follow both the NBA and college basketball. I have been a UConn fan since I received my acceptance to the school, and used to love talking about the program for hours with anyone that would listen.

I have nothing to say about the situation UConn is in now. It isn't so much anger as acceptance. Other than repeating the same complaints that others have made, I have nothing to add. There is no insight or observation left to make. Using a chess metaphor, UConn has not so much lost its queen and both rooks, as the pieces and board have been put away. If we are not consistently making he final 5 cut for borderline top 100 players that we want, then the game is over.

Football recruiting happens in the film room and basketball recruiting happens in the living room. Basketball is a much easier sport to evaluate talent than football because there are only 5 players on the court and everyone plays against everyone. This means there are far fewer recruiting surprises in hoops than football. This is true from top tier college all the way to 5th grade travel basketball. This puts a premium on making the sale, and we aren't making any of them.

For me, the problem transcends UConn. The big business of college athletics has pushed me to the brink. I simply don't care like I used to. I will always be a fan of UConn athletics and will always hope they do well, but like you said, I have accepted the reality that UConn has been left out and the best days for basketball are behind us. That being said, I also am able to truly appreciate how amazing the last 30 years have been. What a ride.

 

[UConnNick]

For me, the problem transcends UConn. The big business of college athletics has pushed me to the brink. I simply don't care like I used to. I will always be a fan of UConn athletics and will always hope they do well, but like you said, I have accepted the reality that UConn has been left out and the best days for basketball are behind us. That being said, I also am able to truly appreciate how amazing the last 30 years have been. What a ride.

I agree with you up to a point, but I'm not quite ready yet to start shoveling dirt on our coffin.

Unlike football, it only takes one trancendent player to revive a BB program at any level. We're only one season removed from a mid major winning the NCAA title. Walker and Napier did it for us. Anthony did it for Syracuse, not that they were a mid major at that time, but the effect is still the same. I realize these type of players don't grow on trees. It's more difficult to attract one playing East Carolina, USF and Tulane rather than Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia, but it can still happen. You just have to work the recruiting trail really hard and make your own luck.